The present invention relates to seating, and in particular, to adjustable seating.
Seating having a myriad of different adjustment features has been utilized in various environments, such as, for example, office furniture, automotive seats, marine seats, and the like. Such adjustment mechanisms have been employed in desk or task chairs, benches, fixed mounted bucket seats, swivel mounted captain's chairs, to name but a few examples. Among the various mechanisms that have been developed for seat adjustment are a variety of adjustment mechanisms for adjusting a seat back position relative to the seat support. Some mechanisms permit adjustment of the seat back independently of motion of the seat, while others operate to provide simultaneous adjustment of the back and seat. A common type of adjustment mechanism is used to adjust the tilt angle of the seat back, either independently or in common with the seat. Other adjustment mechanisms provide for a lumbar support adjustment in the seat back in order to provide either a greater or lesser degree of support to the lumbar region of the user's back.
In the automotive field, most seat adjustment devices were originally mechanical in operation and control. However, increasing numbers of automotive seating adjustment devices are electrically controlled and operated, and incorporate a greater number of different adjustment options in a single seat. Office seating remains predominately mechanical in operation and control, but a variety of automated controls have been proposed or developed, such as, seating adjustment devices utilizing pneumatic bladders and controls.
Certain seating provides bolsters at the side of the seat in order to provide some degree of lateral support to the user. Typically, bolsters extend along the edges of a seat back, but may also be incorporated along the lateral edges of a seat support. The use of bolsters is particularly popular in automotive seating, and, in particular, in vehicles considered to be in a sports car class where it is desirable to provide a seat that is perceived to conform more to the user's body.